The papiNet project

"papiNet is a project in which standard, harmonized business and communication processes as well as document formats were agreed on and implemented by the business partners. All on the basis of modern standards and Internet technologies. We are proud to have made a major contribution to this development."

Dr. Michael Merz, Managing Director

Overview

Ponton Consulting has been the technical partner of the papiNet Consortium since March 2000. The world's largest paper manufacturers (including UPM-Kymmene, Stora Enso, SCA) belong to the papiNet Consortium. The customer base includes over 60 paper processing firms such as Time Warner, News International, Axel Springer, and many other well known companies. The goal of this collaboration is the implementation and further development of a worldwide XML standard for simplified communication between the partners within the paper manufacturing and processing industries. The software implemented by us for this purpose – Ponton X/P – unifies the B2B integration between papiNet partners based on reliable exchange of XML documents. Processes between companies can thus be carried out on a peer-to-peer basis, so that no ASP, Hub or Marketplace operator is required. This helps reduce the cost of integration considerably.

In addition to development of the software, the role of Ponton Consulting also includes technical support for the roll-out and operation of the software.

About the papiNet Standard

papiNet is a joint effort of the paper industry and leading customers from the publishing and print sectors to develop a common B2B standard. The subject of this activity is to define a uniform basis for online document exchange and business processes. Integration of the papiNet standard is implemented by the EPC Messenger, which is used jointly by all participants. The name "EPC Messenger" is used throughout the papiNet project to refer to our product "Ponton X/P".

The papiNet Standard covers different aspects of B2B integration:

• The definition of standard XML document formats
• The definition of standard business processes
• The definition of a standard software for document exchange

Only the integration of these three components allows to significantly improve the "time to integration". Often, only one or two of these aspects are agreed. In this case, however, the potential benefits are not fully realized:

• If processes are not unified across different business partners, adaptation costs are very high in order to fit different ERP systems to the same pattern of document exchange.
• If documents are not standardized, mapping causes additional overheads and if two business partners need to identify which data elements are required for document exchange, the overall integration process is further delayed.
• If different software products are used, protocol integration requires development, integration and testing overhead. Some features like authentication and guaranteed document transfer are only available if all parties use software from the same vendor.

papiNet combines these aspects by providing tools as well as a far reaching standard for participants representing true value for all of them.